The Sixteenth Year
by Call Me Nettie
Summary: In this AU it's Arnold's sixteenth birthday, the year one can finally connect with their soulmate.


**A/N** I wanted to have something to post for the New Year unrelated to any of my other stories but didn't know just what. While talking to a friend they suggested I write a Soulmate story, which is something I was unfamiliar with. This is my attempt at writing such a story and I'm extremely curious to know how well I hit the mark on this one. So please, anyone out there that is familiar with this type of story, I'd really like to hear what you have to say. I hope you enjoy it and I wish you all a peace, love and success in whatever you do in the New Year. Enjoy…..

The Sixteenth Year

It was the eve of his sixteenth birthday, he paced the floor of his bedroom in nervous anticipation. His best friend lay stretched out on his bed repeatedly tossing and catching the old basketball that has seen them through many a game at the local park.

"Man, Arnold, you're going to wear a hole in your rug if you keep pacing like that."

"I can't help it, Gerald. You know what tomorrow is, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. It's the day you finally can make contact with your soulmate. So, I don't see what the big deal is."

"How can you say that? Think about it. In less than 24 hours I will finally have the ability to reach out to that one person that's meant just for me."

"Wow, slow down there, Romeo. Just because someone is pegged to be your soulmate doesn't necessarily mean you're destined to spend the rest of your life together. You know that, right?"

"Well, I know soulmates don't always turn out to be lovers, and that not all end up married and living happily ever after together, but I'm almost certain that in my case that's exactly what it does mean."

Gerald catches the ball, tossing it onto the floor as he sits up, shaking his head at his friend.

"Mmm-mm-mmm, Arnold my man, you are one hopeless romantic. Just because your grandparents turned out to be each other's soulmates doesn't mean that will happen for you. Who knows, yours will probably end up being someone like Harold or Sid."

Gerald's laughing now as he gets up and walks towards the bedroom door. Turning back to Arnold his tone turns a bit more sympathetic.

"Just don't go getting your hopes up. If anything, at least you'll end up with someone to confide in and listen to you when you're feeling down."

"You're right, Gerald, I'll try to keep that in mind. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Alright, oh, and, happy birthday."

Arnold stares at the closed door, running Gerald's words through his head. _"At least you'll have someone to confide in and listen to you when you're feeling down."_ That's good advice, but if Arnold is anything, he's determined, and he's determined to make _his_ soulmate more than just a shoulder to cry on.

Changing into his pajamas he turns out the light and slips into bed. He falls asleep staring at the stars that shine above him and drifts off to a dreamless sleep.

* * *

 **xoxoxo**

When morning comes he slowly opens his eyes and stares once again out the windows above him. The clear night sky has been replaced by a sun fighting desperately to shine its rays through the blanket of haze that hangs thick and lazy.

Remembering what day it is he jumps out of bed and rushes downstairs to the kitchen where he finds his grandparents waiting for him.

His grandmother greets him with a cheery "Good morning Kimba!" as she flips pancakes on to a plate.

"Well, there's the birthday boy!" His grandfather says with a smile. "How's it feel to finally be sixteen?"

"Not much different grandpa. Should it?"

"Well sure, Shortman, this is the year you can finally connect with your soulmate. Aren't you excited?"

"Yeah, I am, but I'm trying hard not to get my hopes up too high. After all, not all soulmates end up married like you and grandma."

"That's true, Shortman, but either way, you'll end up with a best friend that will be with you for life."

After breakfast Arnold heads over to Gerald's house where the two boys wait for the exact hour in which Arnold officially turns sixteen.

"Just five more minutes." Arnold says apprehensively.

"You sound scared, are you worried that I'm right and your soulmate is going to turn out to be Harold?" Gerald teases.

Arnold grabs a pillow off of Gerald's bed and throws it at him, hitting him in the head. "Shut up with that, will ya."

"Hey, watch the hair!" Gerald shouts as he straightens up his tall fro.

Gerald laughs as he grabs a pen off his desk, handing it to Arnold as he sits down next to him.

"It's time." Gerald says, growing a bit nervous himself. "What are you going to write?"

"I don't know. Something simple to start I guess."

Arnold holds the pen to the smooth skin just below his left wrist. He slowly prints the word **"HELLO"** then waits for a reply. If it works his message will appear just as written and in the exact same spot on his soulmate's arm. His soulmate then will have exactly ten minutes to respond before the message disappears off their arm for good.

Time moves slowly as the minutes fade away with no response. After the ten minutes have passed Arnold looks at the word he had written on his arm with disappointment.

"I wonder why it didn't work." He says more to himself than to Gerald.

"Who knows," Gerald shrugs. "Maybe they didn't see it."

"Yeah, but they should have felt the tingle on their arm as the word formed."

"Well, they could be clear across the world, in like Japan or something. Maybe it's the middle of the night for them and they're sleeping. Don't worry too much about it, you can try again tonight at your party."

"You're right. Maybe I'll have better luck tonight."

* * *

 **xoxoxo**

It's a crisp night as Arnold mingles with his guests on the rooftop of the boarding house. Tall, gas heaters have been set up adding a touch of warmth to offset the evening chill. His previous attempt to reach his soulmate lies hidden beneath the sleeve of his shirt. It doesn't take long for his friends to start asking if he's met anyone yet.

"So, Hair Boy, you meet that 'special one' yet?" Helga says with a smirk while holding her breath, afraid of what his answer will be.

"Actually, no." Arnold says, the disappointment is evident on his face.

Seeing him so sad her demeanor softens and she places a hand on his shoulder. "Oh, well, don't worry, I'm sure there's a good reason."

"Yeah, like what? I've been trying to come up with one all day."

Not expecting the question she stammers a bit as she answers. "W-well, I – uh, who knows, maybe they were sleeping."

"That's what Gerald said."

Knowing that she is unable to give him an answer he'll like she starts to become agitated. Raising her voice she says, "Maybe it's not their time. Just because you've turned sixteen doesn't mean they have. Ever think of that?"

A light goes off in Arnold's eyes, his face filling with a smile. No, he hadn't thought of that.

"Of course! That's got to be it. Honestly, Helga, you're a genius." He says as he throws his arms around her, hugging her tight.

She allows herself to swoon for all of five seconds before pushing him away and brushing herself off.

"It's not so much that I'm a genius, it's more that you're a stupid Football Head!" And with that she stomps off to find Phoebe

Gerald leans in and whispers in Arnold's ear. "I was wrong, Harold isn't the worse it can get, Helga is."

Watching her walk away, Arnold disagrees but keeps the opinion to himself.

* * *

 **xoxoxo**

Five months have passed since Arnold's sixteenth birthday. Every few days he tries in vain to reach out to that one person destined for him. Each time the words he writes sit stubbornly on his arm, silently mocking him.

Sometime during the last week of March, Arnold sits on Gerald's couch as his friend sits next to him, lost in a video game.

"This can take forever!" He says in exasperation.

"What can?" Gerald says, not taking his eyes off the TV.

"This whole soulmate thing."

"You still stressing over that?"

"I'm not stressing, I'm just anxious is all."

"Bro, you need to chill. When it happens it happens. There isn't anything you can do to rush it and you know it."

Mad that his friend is right, and frustrated that there's nothing he can do about it, Arnold sits with his arms crossed in front of him. His face set in a pout. An hour passes when Arnold starts to feel a strange tingling on the palm of his right hand. He absentmindedly gives his palm a scratch and when the tingle doesn't go away he turns his hand over to look at it. What he sees causes him to yell out.

"Gerald! Look!"

He shoves his hand in front of Gerald's face. The act causes Gerald to miss a very strategic shot and he looks at Arnold's hand with annoyance until he notices what is written in the center of his palm.

There, written in a very delicate pink script, is the word _"HELLO?"_

Both boys sit staring, unable to move.

"W-what should I do?" Arnold asks.

"What do you mean what should you do? You've only been waiting for this for FIVE MONTHS! Answer it."

"Oh, yeah, I guess I should answer it."

Gerald rolls his eyes to the ceiling. "Sometimes I worry about you, Bro."

Arnold grabs a pen and writes the word **"HELLO"** back. This time, instead of his word sitting glued to his hand, it slowly starts to fade until it totally disappears. The two boys look at each other in disbelief.

"Did you see that?" Arnold asks in awe.

All Gerald can do is shake his head yes.

They wait for about five minutes before Arnold starts to feel that same tingle as before. This time the words appear on the top of his hand.

" _HOW ARE YOU?"_

The two boys look at each other, Arnold's heart starts to race as he begins to smile. He immediately writes back.

" **I'M GOOD. YOU?"**

"Oh brother, really smooth Arnold."

"Well, you think of something to say then."

"Ask them their name."

"You know I can't do that, that's not how it works. Neither one of us is able to give any identifying information about ourselves."

"Well, try asking them about the weather then, maybe we can figure out a location if we ask questions like that."

Arnold chooses to write on the inside of his arm this time.

" **HOW'S THE WEATHER WHERE YOU ARE?"**

" _HAZY."_ Comes the response.

"Hmmm," Gerald says, "That can be anywhere."

Looking out the window to the haze that covers their sky Arnold wonders.

* * *

 **xoxoxo**

Time passes as the two soulmates slowly get to know each other. Their conversations are lighthearted and comfortable. Arnold runs through his head the things he's been able to figure out so far from the responses he gets to his questions:

1\. The person is female, he's sure of that.

2\. They must live close enough to be in the same time zone.

3\. They must love books because they read a lot.

4\. They have no pets but they like animals.

5\. They share a like for horror films and love Halloween.

6\. She is funny, and witty, and smart and makes him feel happy.

He knows better, and he tries his hardest not to, but he can't help fearing that he is falling in love. So far he has been able to avoid broaching the subject of love and relationships but he is not only a hopeless romantic, he is also weak and pretty soon he decides to just go for it.

" **IF I ASK YOU SOMETHING, WILL YOU GIVE ME AN HONEST ANSWER?"**

" _DON'T I ALWAYS?"_

" **I DON'T KNOW, DO YOU?"**

" _YES."_

" **DO YOU THINK TWO PEOPLE WHO HAVE NEVER MET CAN FALL IN LOVE?"**

He doesn't get a response right away, his question left to slowly fade away on his arm. Fearing he's scared her off he lifts his pen to his skin but before he can write anything her answer appears.

" _I THINK IT MIGHT BE POSSIBLE."_

Her answer gives him hope.

" **COULD YOU SEE YOURSELF FALLING FOR ME?"**

Again a long pause.

" _NO, I'M SORRY."_

He's crushed.

" **WHY NOT?"**

" _BECAUSE MY HEART BELONGS TO ANOTHER."_

" **BUT WE ARE SOULMATES."**

" _YES, YOU ARE MY SOULMATE, BUT NOT MY DESTINY. THERE'S A DIFFERENCE."_

" **DOES HE LOVE YOU BACK?"**

" _I DON'T KNOW."_

" **HAVE YOU TOLD HIM HOW YOU FEEL?"**

" _ONCE, A LONG TIME AGO."_

" **WHAT HAPPENED?"**

" _ISN'T IT OBVIOUS? I'M NOT WITH HIM AM I? DOI!"_

Something in her response strikes him as familiar but he can't quite place what it is.

" **YET YOU STILL LOVE HIM."**

" _YES."_

" **IT'S LATE HERE, I SHOULD GO."**

" _OKAY."_

He runs their conversation through his head, that familiar feeling pricking at the back of his mind. Depressed over what basically boiled down to being turned down by what he was certain would be his one true love he turns out his light and tries to sleep.

* * *

 **xoxoxo**

A couple of weeks pass, he is resigned to the fact that his soulmate is in love with another and decides to just enjoy her company. She never fails to get a smile out of him and he hopes he makes her just as happy. Now, sitting in the back of his English Lit class he is bored and restless and decides to see what's up with "her".

He draws a doodle on his hand of a T-Rex eating a stick figure he has labeled "Teacher". He hears a quiet chuckle emit from somewhere up towards the front of the class. Unable to tell where it's coming from he turns his attention back to the teacher. A few minutes later he feels a tingle on his right forearm. Looking down he sees a gravestone with the letters RIP written across it. Smiling he writes back:

" **HOW'S LIFE?"**

" _BORING."_

" **WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"**

" _SITTING IN CLASS, TRYING TO STAY AWAKE."_

" **ME TOO. WHAT SUBJECT?"**

" _ENGLISH."_

He reads the word his soulmate wrote and his head immediately pops up. He scans the classroom wondering. He draws a doodle on his arm of a person sticking their finger down their throat writing the word "GAG" above it. He scans the room carefully. A minute later he hears the same soft giggle and watches in shock as the person takes their pen and places to the palm of their hand. As soon as they do that he feels the familiar tingle. Looking down he see the words:

" _YOU GOT THAT RIGHT!"_

The conversation goes silent for the rest of the class. His eyes never leaving the person who sits just three rows in front of him. When the bell rings he follows her to her locker. He waits for her to put down her books before grabbing her arm and turning it palm side up.

"Hey!" She yells at him, "Just what do you think you're doing?"

He doesn't say anything to her as he takes his pen and scribbles something on his own arm.

She starts to feel that familiar tingle and she watches with shocked eyes as the words form on her arm.

" **I LOVE YOU TOO."** Slowly starts to appear. She looks from her arm to his green eyes.

"Arnold." She whispers. "It's you."

Suddenly embarrassed and at a loss for words he brings his hand up to rub the back of his neck as he shyly says "Yeah, Helga, it's me."

THE END


End file.
